Decoupled Simulation of Two-Arm Robot Systems

A method for the dynamic simulation of two robots coupled via the object is described. The approach taken is to decouple the arms and model the effects of one arm on the other using an interaction force/moment vector which is treated as a part of the forces/moments exerted on the end effector. The result (limited to the case of a rigid-body object) is a closed form expression for the interaction force/moment vector which depends on the current values of the joint variable positions, velocities, and the input generalized forces. The integration of this result with well-known simulation methods is given.